The critically acclaimed new Low album HEY WHAT and producer BJ Burton have been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical).” This is the band’s first-ever nomination in their 28-year career. HEY WHAT has also earned placement on “Best of 2021” year-end lists from the likes of Blow Up (#1), MOJO (#4), Uncut (#4), Rolling Stone (#16), The New Yorker (#8), The Wire (#4), New York Times (#8 /Critic: Lindsey Zoladz), PASTE (#12 Album of the Year and #20 Songs of the Year), Pitchfork (#3 Best Songs of 2021, #5 Best 50 Albums of 2021 and Best Rock Album), Northern Transmissions (#2), NPR (#21), The Guardian (#31), Vulture (Best Albums of 2021, So Far), Esquire (Best Albums of 2021, So Far), Gorilla vs. Bear (#39), Treble Zine (#1 Best 50 Albums of 2021), EXCLAIM! (#18), The Quietus (#98), The Skinny ( #3), PASTE (#12), as well as Rough Trade UK’s Top 100 Albums of 2021.
A new video, directed by illy killy for their song “Hey” is now available. You can watch the video by clicking here.
Low’s previously announced international headline dates in support of HEY WHAT begin February 16th, 2022. For a full list of shows click here.
Best Albums of 2021 lists include The New York Times, The Guardian, MOJO, The New Yorker, NPR Music, Rolling Stone, Blow Up, and Uncut
8.4/10, “Best New Music,”Pitchfork “Album of the Week” Stereogum “This is Low’s victory.” ★★★★Rolling Stone “The people behind HEY WHAT are redefining how a rock band can sound.” [“Album of the Week”] ★★★★The Guardian ”HEY WHAT is a transformative experience. Listening to it changes you…” [“Album of the Week”] Stereogum “…staggering and unprecedented…” The New Yorker [“Best Music of 2021,” #8]
Low HEY WHAT
Tracklisting: 1. White Horses 2. I Can Wait 3. All Night 4. Disappearing 5. Hey 6. Days Like These 7. There’s a Comma After Still 8. Don’t Walk Away 9. More 10. The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off)
HEY WHAT, the enthralling new Low album, is out now on CD/LP/CS/DSPs on Sub Pop. HEY WHAT and its previously released singles “Days Like These,” “Disappearing” and “More” have earned the group raves from the likes of The New York Times, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone,Beats Per Minute, Brooklyn Vegan, CLASH, DIY, The Guardian, The Line of Best Fit, MOJO, NPR Music, PASTE, Uncut, SPIN, Stereogum, Under the Radar, and more.
A new video, directed by Shane Donahue, for “White Horses,” the first song from the new Low album, marks the release of HEY WHAT.
Low’s international headlining dates in support of HEY WHAT for the US, UK and EU have been announced. For a full list of shows click here.
What people are saying about HEY WHAT:
9/10, “Album of the Month,” UNCUT 9/10 CLASH 8.6/10 PASTE 8.4/10, “Best New Music,” Pitchfork ★★★★ The Guardian ★★★★ MOJO “Album of the Week” Stereogum
★★★★★ The Skinny
5/5 NARC 9/10 Northern Transmissions 8/10 EXCLAIM! ★★★★ Slant “Album of the Week” Treble “An instant classic.” Uproxx
“It is easy to make music that is difficult and it is easy to make music that is beautiful. But it is quite the trick to be both at the same time, on HEY WHAT, Low mark themselves out as masters of”It is easy to make music that is difficult and it is easy to make music that is beautiful. But it is quite the trick to be both at the same time, on HEY WHAT, Low mark themselves out as masters of the art.” [9/10, “ Album of the Month”] -UNCUT
“A potential classic that surprises at every turn…” [9/10] - CLASH
“…A visceral treatise on modern-day existential dread.” [8.6/10] - PASTE
“HEY WHAT’s refinements make it clear that they are still finding fresh angles on the same themes that have animated them since the beginning: using minimalism to express the entwined pairing of intimacy and loneliness, searching for meaning in the rubble after a departure too catastrophic to address by name.” [8.4/10, “Best New Music”] - Pitchfork
“The people behind HEY WHAT are redefining how a rock band can sound.” [“Album of the Week”] ★★★★ - The Guardian
“The information exchange attains a near-perfect equilibrium between sanctified melody and distress signals… After almost 30 years documenting the bittersweet mysteries of life, this one’s for the angels.” ★★★★ - MOJO
“Just as Double Negative offered a catharsis of the confusion and despair that many felt in 2018, as a whole HEY WHAT promises hurt and healing in equal measure, its abrasive textures the companion to undeniable warmth, tenderness, and optimism.” - The Wire
“An instant classic that culminates and sharpens their previous experiments for an overwhelming emotional experience.” - UPROXX
“The world might be broken, and so might we all, but Low keep on straining towards transcendence. Remarkably, nearly 30 years into their career, they seem to have achieved it yet again.” [Album of the Week] - Stereogum
“It’s safe to say that no one is making music that sounds remotely similar to what Low is giving us.” [8/10] - EXCLAIM!
“The loud, bold melodies on HEY WHAT reach out, grab you, and demand your attention, and then they shower you with a rush of euphoria.” - Brooklyn Vegan
“HEY WHAT redefines ‘extraordinary.’” - Prog
“A record worth cherishing” - Loud & Quiet
“To be making music that can truly surprise you 13 albums and 28 years into a career is a testament to Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker’s continued dedication to their craft.” ★★★★★ - The Skinny
“The maximalism of HEY WHAT leaves more room for brightness and even optimism, its distorted and texturally jagged structures rendered in perfect harmony with the space and possibilities that surround them.” [“Album of the Week”] - Treble
“Rarely does a record seem to wholly capture the people behind it. Rarely is a record this special.” [5/5] - NARC
“HEY WHAT finds the duo fully embracing sonic expressionism while further honing their impeccable songcraft.” ★★★★ - SLANT
“As with 2018’s Double Negative, it’s an affirmation of Low as a creative force that effortlessly fits into the shape of what stylistic container it’s placed in.” [9/10] - Northern Transmissions
“If Double Negative from 2018 proved that these indie lifers were still finding uncharted frontiers in their spacious sound nearly three decades into their band’s existence, this first taste of their forthcoming album HEY WHAT shows once again that they’re not finished discovering exhilaratingly new ways to sound exactly like themselves.” [“Days Like These”] - New York Times
“It’s simply three-and-a-half minutes of throbbing, unrequited yearning, Low at their very best, and it’s beautiful.” [“Disappearing”] – Rolling Stone
Tracklisting: 1. White Horses 2. I Can Wait 3. All Night 4. Disappearing 5. Hey 6. Days Like These 7. There’s a Comma After Still 8. Don’t Walk Away 9. More 10. The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off
HEY WHAT, the astonishing new Low album, will be released worldwide on CD/LP/CS/DSPs on September 10th, 2021 on Sub Pop Records. On the heels of their previously released singles, “Days Like These”, and “Disappearing” comes the group’s captivating new video for “More.” Directed by Julie Casper Roth, this new video metaphorically explores the Sisyphean task of dismantling structural oppression, through gender biases.
HEY WHAT and its singles “Days Like These” and “Disappearing,” have been earning Low raves from the likes of Beats Per Minute, Brooklyn Vegan, CLASH, DIY, The Guardian, The Line of Best Fit, MOJO, NPR Music, PASTE, Uncut, SPIN, Stereogum, Under the Radar, and more.
The New York Times had this to say, “If Double Negative from 2018 proved that these indie lifers were still finding uncharted frontiers in their spacious sound nearly three decades into their band’s existence, this first taste of their forthcoming album HEY WHAT shows once again that they’re not finished discovering exhilaratingly new ways to sound exactly like themselves.” The Guardian raves, “The apocalyptic feel of 2018’s masterpiece album Double Negative continues the chanted vocal shakes under a hail of static, but its big pure melody endures.” Pitchfork says of “Days Like These,” “The melody dissolves into synth fuzz and soloing, the lyrics evaporate to a single word (“again”), and the white noise softens into a heavenly glow, ascending and sweeping us along for another transformation (“Best New Track”).” Meanwhile, Rolling Stone offered this on “Disappearing,” “It’s simply three-and-a-half minutes of throbbing, unrequited yearning, Low at their very best, and it’s beautiful.”
Low’s international headlining dates in support of HEY WHAT for the US, UK, and EU have been announced. For a full list of shows click here.
What people are saying about Low: “a brilliantly extreme kind of pop record” - Uncut “A fragmented but rousing return” - MOJO “Musically, “Disappearing” echoes “Days Like These” — sonically experimental but just a bit more hopeful than Double Negative, with a tension of hymnlike melodies and guttural distortion.” [“Disappearing”] - Stereogum “Slow-burning, elegant” - NME “Choral harmonies tinged in gospel influences… move through spider-like guitar lines into a vein of distortion.” - CLASH
Low HEY WHAT
Tracklisting: 1. White Horses 2. I Can Wait 3. All Night 4. Disappearing 5. Hey 6. Days Like These 7. There’s a Comma After Still 8. Don’t Walk Away 9. More 10. The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off)
HEY WHAT, the astonishing new Low album, will be released worldwide on September 10th, 2021 on Sub Pop Records. On the heels of their latest single, “Days Like These”, the group has shared a breathtaking video for their song “Disappearing.” Multi-disciplinary artist Dorian Wood directed the group’s new video, and had this to say about making the video, “I am incredibly thrilled to have created this video for Low. I’ve been such a fan for years. I was inspired to offer a personal glimpse of what I’d been up to during the pandemic year. I’ve been doing art modeling on the side for years, mostly for art schools. Once the schools physically shut down due to Covid, I was invited to pose for dozens of virtual classes. I borrowed a friend’s empty guest room and twice a week I would set up my laptop and lights and pose for three hours at a time. During these long stretches of time, I’d lose myself in thought while delivering poses that best showcased all this fat brown beauty. In my mind, I traveled to places and memories, and in the case of “Disappearing”, I not only visited the ocean in my mind, I became it. Even at its most empowering and meditative, a modeling session was often a reminder of how lonely one can feel when the other humans in the room immediately vanish once the laptop shuts down. And still, a semblance of hope always lingered. We shot the video at Human Resources, a performance space in L.A. which also served as a creative sanctuary for me during the pandemic year. There’s a lot of ‘coming home’ love in this video. I’m honored to be able to share this love.”
Low have announced two album release shows on September 10th and 11th at Square Lake, outside the Twin Cities in their home state of Minnesota. The group has invited a diverse group of artists to join them including Joe Rainey Sr., Gaelynn Lea, and Lord Friday the 13th. These shows are in addition to the previously announced 30-date world tour beginning in March 2022, with UK and European dates to follow in May. See below for a full list of shows.
North America 2021: Sep. 10 - Square Lake, MN Sep. 11 - Square Lake, MN
North America 2022: Mar. 22 - Bloomington, IN - Bishop Mar. 25 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn Mar. 26 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West Mar. 28 - Washington, DC - Miracle Theatre Mar. 29 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live Mar. 31 - New York, NY - Webster Hall Apr. 01 - Providence, RI - Columbus Theater Apr. 02 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount Apr. 04 - Toronto, ON - The Axis Club Apr. 05 - Detroit, MI - Loving Touch Apr. 08 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
UK & Europe 2022: Apr. 25 - Edinburgh, UK - Queen’s Hall Apr. 26 - Dublin, IE - Vicar Street Apr. 27 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Cathedral Apr. 28 - Brighton, UK - St. George’s Church Brighton Apr. 29 - London, UK - St. John at Hackney Church - Apr. 30 - Bristol, UK - Trinity May 02 - Paris, FR - Alhambra May 03 - Cologne, DE - Kulturkirche Köln May 04 - Antwerp, BE - TRIX May 05 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso May 06 - Aarhus, DK - Voxhall May 07 - Copenhagen, DK - Vega May 09 - Hamburg, DE - Uebel & Gefährlich May 10 - Berlin, DE - Festsaal Kreuzberg May 11 - Vienna, AT - Wuk May 12 - Bologna, IT - Teatro Duse May 13 - Lausanne, CH- Les Docks May 14 - Zurich, CH - Mascotte
Tracklisting: 1. White Horses 2. I Can Wait 3. All Night 4. Disappearing 5. Hey 6. Days Like These 7. There’s a Comma After Still 8. Don’t Walk Away 9. More 10. The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off)
HEY WHAT, the astonishing new Low album, will be released worldwide on September 10th, 2021 on Sub Pop Records. In anticipation of the new album, the beloved group is sharing “Days Like These,” the first single, and its official video, helmed by their longtime friend and director, Karlos Rene Ayala. You can watch “Days Like These” by clicking here.
HEY WHAT is Low’s thirteenth full-length release in twenty-seven years, and their third with producer BJ Burton. The new album finds the group focusing on their craft, staying out of the fray, and holding fast their faith to find new ways to express the discord and delight of being alive, to turn the duality of existence into hymns we can share. These ten pieces—each built around their own instantaneous, undeniable hook—are turbocharged by the vivid textures that surround them. The ineffable, familiar harmonies of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker break through the chaos like a life raft. Layers of distorted sound accrete with each new verse - building, breaking, colossal then restrained, a solemn vow only whispered. There will be time to unravel and attribute meaning to the music and art of these times, but the creative moment looks FORWARD, with teeth.
HEY WHAT is now available for preorder on CD/LP/CS/DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com, select independent retailers in North America and in the U.K, and in Europe will receive the limited Loser Edition on clear vinyl (while supplies last). HEY WHAT’s minimal album cover, evoking interference patterns, was designed by UK multidisciplinary artist Peter Liversidge.
HEY WHAT is the band’s first release since Double Negative, one of the best-reviewed albums of 2018, with year-end honors from Uncut (#1), The Guardian, MOJO, NPR, Vulture, The Wire, and more. The album also earned “Best of the Decade: 2010s” placement from Aquarium Drunkard, Brooklyn Vegan, Pitchfork, and Stereogum.
Low has announced a 30 date world tour with North American shows beginning in March 2022, with UK & European dates to follow in May. See below for a full list of shows.
North America 2022: Mar. 22 - Bloomington, IN - Bishop Mar. 25 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn Mar. 26 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West Mar. 28 - Washington, DC - Miracle Theatre Mar. 29 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live Mar. 31 - New York, NY - Webster Hall Apr. 01 - Providence, RI - Columbus Theater Apr. 02 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount Apr. 04 - Toronto, ON - The Axis Club Apr. 05 - Detroit, MI - Loving Touch Apr. 08 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
UK & Europe 2022: Apr. 25 - Edinburgh, UK - Queen’s Hall Apr. 26 - Dublin, IE - Vicar Street Apr. 27 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Cathedral Apr. 28 - Brighton, UK - St. George’s Church Brighton Apr. 29 - London, UK - St. John at Hackney Church - Apr. 30 - Bristol, UK - Trinity May 02 - Paris, FR - Alhambra May 03 - Cologne, DE - Kulturkirche Köln May 04 - Antwerp, BE - TRIX May 05 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso May 06 - Aarhus, DK - Voxhall May 07 - Copenhagen, DK - Vega May 09 - Hamburg, DE - Uebel & Gefährlich May 10 - Berlin, DE - Festsaal Kreuzberg May 11 - Vienna, AT - Wuk May 12 - Bologna, IT - Teatro Duse May 13 - Lausanne, CH- Les Docks May 14 - Zurich, CH - Mascotte
Low HEY WHAT
Tracklisting: 1. White Horses 2. I Can Wait 3. All Night 4. Disappearing 5. Hey 6. Days Like These 7. There’s a Comma After Still 8. Don’t Walk Away 9. More 10. The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off)
On the heels of their critically acclaimed 2018 album, Double Negative, Low have shared a remix of “Fly,” one of the album’s many stand-out tracks, by famed Philadelphia producer/DJ King Britt, who had this to say about their collaboration:
“As a longtime Low fan, a huge amount of respect went into the mix. I loved their new sonic direction, which spoke to my Fhloston Paradigm project. My mix was a response and continuation in a way of a magical space they already created. Mimi Parker’s vocals were some of her best. A true honor.”
You can listen to King Britt’s remix of “Fly” by clicking here.
The band recently played an electrifying set at this year’s Glastonbury Festival in the UK, which was streamed live on BBC Music. Low’s live Glastonbury performance of “Fly” aired on BBC 2 TV and is also now available on the BBC Music Youtube channel here. Next up, Low will perform at this weekend’s Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, IL.
Jul. 19 - Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival Aug. 16 - Duluth, MN - Bayfront Festival Park (Wild Waters Music Fest to Save the Boundary Waters) Aug. 24 - Turin, IT - TOday’s Festival Aug. 27 - Madrid, ES - Veranos de la Villa Aug. 29 - La Tour de Peilz, CH - Nox Orae Festival Aug. 31 - Wiltshire, UK - End of the Road Festival Sep. 10 - Columbus, OH - Wexner Center for the Arts Sep. 11 - Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery Sep. 13 - Hudson, NY - Basilica Hudson Sep. 14 - Brooklyn, NY - Murmrr
What “The People” are saying about Double Negative:
“…the most important, devastating album of the year.” [5/5] - The Guardian
“Low have never made a record quite so jarring and jagged, but Double Negative pushes beyond their own catalogue. Low have made what might be their most relevant album, one that holds a mirror up to the world.” [“Album of the Month,” 9/10] -Uncut
“…an ambitious, modern wonder of an album, an exploration of the song as an imperfect conduit of feeling..” [Best New Music, 8.7/10] - Pitchfork
“With their latest, Double Negative, they’ve gone full-on impressionistic, smearing and distorting sounds to create beautiful songs from distant moments playing on a radio that’s fallen down a wormhole.” - New York Times
“Low are back with a vital-sounding, politically-urgent record that’s perhaps the best of their career.” - The Quietus
“It’s an extraordinary and entirely successful reinvention.” - Sunday Times
